Choosing a roller shade fabric

Every fabric is answering one question: what do you want this window to do? Sleep-dark, softly bright, or glare-free with the view intact — pick the job first and the fabric picks itself.

The three jobs a shade can do

Blackout — sleep and screens

An opaque fabric that stops light at the panel. Bedrooms, nurseries, media rooms, conference rooms with projectors. Remember the panel is only half the job: light also sneaks around the edges, so blackout works best as an outside mount with generous overlap.

Light-filtering — soft privacy

Diffuses daylight into an even glow and blurs silhouettes. Living rooms, kitchens, street-facing rooms where you want brightness without being on display. You lose the view through the window when it's down — that's the trade against a solar screen.

Solar screen — glare control with a view

A tight technical weave that cuts glare and heat while you keep looking through it. Offices, west-facing glass, rooms with a view worth keeping. Daytime privacy is good; at night, with lights on, the effect reverses — pair with drapes where night privacy matters.

Openness: what 1% vs 3% vs 5% actually means

Solar screens are graded by openness — the share of the weave that's open air. It's a dial between view and glare control:

5% openness

The brightest and most view-through of the three. Good general-purpose glare control where the sun isn't brutal and you want the room to stay airy.

3% openness

The middle setting and the most common pick: noticeably better glare and heat rejection than 5%, still a real view. If you're unsure, start here.

1% openness

The performance weave for hard sun — west exposures, big glass, screens facing windows. Maximum glare cut; the view dims but survives.

The Vale Shade lineup

Every fabric below is cut to your measurements — same ⅛″ precision, same California turnaround — and the configurator prices your exact size live, so none of this is quote-by-phone:

Economy tier

Light-Filtering Poly — the workhorse soft-light fabric.
Blackout Poly — full room-darkening on a budget.

Mid tier

5% Solar Screen and 3% Solar Screen — the view-keeping glare cutters.
Textured Weave — light-filtering with visible fabric character for living spaces.

Premium tier

1% Performance Solar Screen — hard-sun glare control.
Decorative Blackout Weave — blackout that reads as fabric, not vinyl.
Linen Sheer — the lightest touch: daylight softened, view hazed, glow kept.

Quick picks by room

Bedroom

Blackout Poly or Decorative Blackout Weave, outside mount. Add a light-filtering layer if you want daytime softness too.

Home office / west glass

3% Solar Screen; step to 1% Performance if afternoon glare still wins.

Living room

Textured Weave or Linen Sheer for character; 5% Solar if the view is the point.

Found your fabric?

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